


Road to Ruin

by Mothmans_Ass



Series: Lin Twins [4]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:14:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27571348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mothmans_Ass/pseuds/Mothmans_Ass
Summary: One year after Road to Paradise and the Lin Twins have undergone some changes.
Series: Lin Twins [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015308
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Road to Ruin

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to everyone who loved and made these characters grow in ways I wouldn't have been able to do alone. Also to Sir Pocket Pussy, gone but never forgotten.

_Freedom. Eternal Paradise._

A year ago those words had lured Hana and her twin deep into the woods to a mint-colored building full of others just like them. They all were searching for one thing: freedom. For a while, things were perfect until they weren't. The missing digit on her brother's hand was evidence of that. The torture he had gone through that day had been a result of her own actions-a fact that had sent her spiraling down a series of memories that she hadn't been expecting to relive. At least not in a place she had expected to find safety in. That day had changed her, woken her to the dangers that had lurked under the mint roof. 

And Joon. 

Her gaze shifted to her brother walking next to her, his golden eyes staring straight ahead of them. His jaw set in a firm line. He had changed so much. His softer body had hardened and filled out. Everything was different, from the way he moved and the way he spoke. Her mind flashed back to so long ago when they walked through these woods, the blood of their parents still drying on her clothes. He had trailed behind her and at the time she had believed the death of their parents had frightened him. Now she knew that the only thing he had been scared of was himself. He walked next to her now. In a way, it made her sad. Joon didn't need her to protect him anymore. He didn't need her. She would always need him though. It was why Hana fought as hard as she had to protect him, if a punishment had gone too far and Joon had died Hana wouldn't have long in this world either. 

Joon was different. He didn't need her, and Hana didn't think he ever had. She thinks of when he volunteered to take her cleansing instead of letting her go through a second one. The panic in his voice. Her gaze drifted down to his hand, the missing pinky a constant reminder. That cleansing had changed him in ways years of torture never did. She would always blame herself for what he went through. Once he recovered, they plotted to flee another place. This time with a little less bloodshed. 

They fled into the night, unaware that soon the cult would implode on itself, scattering the remaining members to the wind. 

That brings them to now, tripping over branches and freezing at any sound. Fearful that it would mean they've been followed. 

"We spent all that time there and I still don't know how to swim," Hana murmurs suddenly, recalling the pool. A strange thing for a cult to have but Hana didn't think much about it. 

Joon laughs softly, "I'll teach you. It's not too hard." The corners of his lips tug down, "But you should get comfortable in water first. Once we find a hotel or something you should try sitting in the bath."

She nods, stepping over a rock. She smiled at the mundane conversation they were having. They _were_ fleeing from a cult. A cult they had joined to escape from being convicted of murder. Luckily they had gotten fake IDs before joining Mint Eye. Now all they had to do was flee the country. Easy. But now wasn't the time, they needed to focus on getting out of the woods. Literally. She'd think more about that later.

"Of course we'll have to get you some of those arm wings," Joon says teasingly. "You'll have a hell of a time in the water just standing."

Hana huffs, tugging a leaf off a branch and throwing it at her brother. It stuck to his shirt, making his shoulders shake in silent laughter. "Shithead."

"I'll find you some bright yellow ones too. They'll go so well with your sunny personality."

Hana shakes her head, her face twisted in a scowl but her eyes bright with amusement. "Whatever."

Hana knew that the two of them would never be normal. Just saying that made them seem like aliens from a distant world. Trauma and grief embedded far too deeply in their hearts. Maybe they couldn't heal each other, maybe the only way would be for them to push themselves into the sun. Allow the warmth of others to mend them. Maybe they would never be able to properly heal, their wounds left untreated for far too long. Hana wasn't sure what she was capable of, outside of the obvious. She knew she could be harsh, sharper than any thorns. Her hands would always be stained in blood. But not Joon, something she would always be grateful for. Joon could love, feel so strongly about others that he would do anything for a stranger. That fact gave Hana some peace, he would be okay in this great big world. Now he knew it too. 

"Hana, look!"

She looks up, spotting moving lights and black pavement. A road. 

"Thank god," she muttered. "Hopefully we aren't too far from a town or something."

Joon laughs, reaching down and grabbing onto her hand as he tugs her to the clearing. He releases her, walking a little faster now that he had realized how close they were to starting fresh. Hana hurried behind him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 

After everything they had been through, the twins were _finally_ free. They were going to start again somewhere far away and never look back. The road they walked had been long and treacherous but the end was in sight. A place to rest and grow anew. They would find their own freedom and paradise. 

_A new start._


End file.
